Meeting documents

Members will receive an overview of the Growth proposals for Bucks outlined in the District Council's Local Plans. This will be an opportunity for Members to consider the implications for County Council services going forward.

Attendees:

Mr Warren Whyte, Cabinet Member for Planning and Environment

Miss Rachel Wileman, Head of Strategic Plan and Infrastructure

The Committee was provided with a presentation from Ms Rachel Wileman, Head of Strategic Plan and Infrastructure and Mrs Joan Hancox, Head of Transport Strategy.

Ms Wileman provided the Committee with the following information in addition to her presentation:

·         The deadline for responding to the consultation on the Housing White Paper was 2^nd May 2017. 

·         The County Council needed to understand  the impact on its services – both strategic and day-to-day services as a result of the growth agenda. 

·         Aylesbury, Wycombe, Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils are currently working on their respective Local Plans. The County Council is awaiting information from Aylesbury Vale District Council regarding their sustainability appraisal work relating to the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (VALP). This was expected to be submitted to Cabinet in May/June with a decision expected to be made in December 2017. A decision on Wycombe District’s Local Plan was expected to follow the same timescale as the VALP.

·         The Government had proposed the implementation of an expressway through the National Infrastructure Commission as part of their commitment to an Oxford to Cambridge growth arc, stretching across Aylesbury Vale. The County Council is working with the Strategic Alliance regarding this; with the County’s preference being that the expressway would connect Oxford, Haddenham and Aylesbury before connecting with the Stoke Hammond bypass. The benefit of this would be stronger links with the M40 and the opening up of some key housing sites along the corridor. It was noted that the Green Belt restrictions in Aylesbury Vale would restrict potential growth around Wendover.

·         Chiltern and South Bucks District Councils had completed their consultations on preferred options, and, of the 15 preferred options listed, the County Council raised concerns with 5 of the sites due to Green Belt and transport issues.

·         Officer groups were now working with Business Units through a Corporate Working Group (CWG). Alongside this, the Growth Board, including key Cabinet Members, ensured that Members had input and were kept up to date on progress.

Mrs Hancox provided the Committee with the following information in addition to her presentation:

·         The County Council had used projected growth figures provided by the District Council in order to predict what the impact of growth would be on the highway network. The Council had developed its Transport Strategy through to 2033.

·         In Wycombe the impacts of housing growth on the A40 and around Princes Risborough which may require a relief road, were being carefully considered.  Discussions were also underway with Highways England regarding congestion at the Handy Cross roundabout and A404/M4 corridor issues.

·         The Committee was told that Buckinghamshire could be considered the epicentre for national infrastructure schemes such as HS2, East-West Rail, Cross Rail, proposed Oxford to Cambridge Expressway, proposed Western Rail Link to Heathrow, potential Heathrow expansion and the M4 ‘smart’ motorway project.

·         Strategic planning work needed to take into account the priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Board up to 2020/21.  Population growth would have a significant impact on demand for Health & Social Care services and it was important to address the prevention agenda to reduce future demand on acute services.

·         Mr Whyte voiced the importance of the County Council trying to influence the national programmes and explained resources had been allocated this matter, such as the recruitment of officers to provide strong technical advice.

·         Mrs Hancox explained that Highways England was expected to publish their Road Notification Studies in March 2017 and that this would be an appropriate time to highlight to Highways England issues that needed addressing, such as road noise and air pollution.

·         Mrs Wileman and Mrs Hancox confirmed that the matter would be raised with Public Health for further investigation.

ACTION: Ms Wileman & Mrs Hancox

·         Mrs Hancox advised that the Housing White Paper included funding of critical infrastructure, which would require an innovative, creative thinking approach and integrated financial understanding.

·         It was noted that the County expected to see a 25-30% growth in traffic over the next 20 years excluding additional traffic arising from housing growth.

·         In response questions, Ms Wileman agreed to investigate whether the HS2 line would have a station in Aylesbury and the developer funding of the slip-road on the Eastern Link Road, Aylesbury.

ACTION: Ms Wileman

·         It was noted that Slough Borough Council had not engaged with the County Council prior to public consultation on their Local Plan Issues and Options consultation draft. Ms Wileman explained that the Cabinet Member for Transportation, Mr Mark Shaw, would be meeting with his Slough counterpart to discuss the proposed northern expansion of 5,000 homes into South Bucks.

The Chairman thanked the Officers and Cabinet Members for their continued work on this matter and for the information they had brought to the Committee. The Chairman proposed that the Select Committees should undertake further scrutiny of the preparations for growth across the Council, as all service areas would be affected.